Unfortunately, warped credit and smart cards are a ubiquitous phenomenon. These sorts of cards tend to deform and warp easily when disposed in wallets that are carried in back pockets. The reading of such bent, bowed, or warped credit and smart cards can be a problem for a card reader.
For example, some credit and smart card readers, such as Axiohm Model No. 170 readers, have a debris opening to allow items other than full credit cards to drop out of the card reader. This opening prevents frequent jamming that would require maintenance and repair.
It has been observed that bent, bowed, or warped cards tend to drop through the aforementioned debris opening without being processed. This is due to the fact that the warped card may not follow the processing path within the reader. The leading edge of a warped card can pass through the insert deck without being captured. Therefore, when the trailing edge passes the insert station, since no support is provided for the card, it can drop through the debris opening without being processed.
The aforementioned parent application described an apparatus by which bowed or warped credit cards could be processed within a card reader having a debris opening. In the parent application, a card ramp extended into the card slot area to catch the edge of an extremely warped card, allowing the card to be read. The card ramp was attached to one or both sides of the chassis.
After placing the apparatus in operation, it was discovered that the reader did not always work for extremely warped cards. It was suggested that the ramp extend a little further across the card slot opening. It was also discovered that when a user fraudulently cut the corners off the credit card, either or both of the previous ramps could be bypassed.
The current invention features a new ramp design that extends across the entire card slot opening. The new ramp protrudes from the back of the chassis, and eliminates the possibility of extremely warped or cut cards from bypassing the system. The newly designed ramp can be retrofitted into the old card readers by adhesively attaching or snap fitting them into place. The retrofitted system maintains the half card drop out feature.